Hi everyone! I've never posted on this section before. Anyway, we are expecting our first child, due this summer. We have two wonderful cats, very mellow, well-behaved, all-around good cats. I'm wondering what the best way to introduce them to the newcomer to our family (after all, it's their family, too!)

One thing I am concerned about is that we just moved very far and are still settling in the new place. I know the cats feel uneasy about this change as well. I hope the new baby doesn't upset the apple cart even more... how should I handle this?

The baby will be sleeping in our bedroom for the first few months in a pack-n-play... not sure if that will help the advice or not.

I was thinking about sending my husband or other family member home with a receiving blanket that baby has been wrapped in (while we're still in the hospital) so the cats can sniff and roll around in to get the new scent.

happycats

June 14th, 2007, 11:54 AM

The baby blanket is a good idea.

My son was in his own room, and the cats were not allowed in there (I started that as soon as I was pregnant) banned them from the spare/now sons bedroom, so they wouldn't think it was because of the baby.
So if you allow your cats in your bedroom, stop it now before the baby comes.

My cats (I has 6 at the time) were/are wonderful and to this day have never bit or scratched my son (they all have claws, and my son is now 6 years old) .

They would all leave the room (I'm talking warp sped) every time the baby cried, so you may want to try a recording of a baby crying, so your cats can get used to it.

sugarcatmom

June 14th, 2007, 12:28 PM

Here are a couple of websites with CDs of baby sounds, which I think would be a great idea to get your cats (and you guys, too!) used to.

http://www.soundsofbaby.com/
http://www.preparingfido.com/

And here's a PDF about introducing a baby to pets: http://www.labadoption.org/linkpages/DogBehave/Articles/BabyAndPets.pdf